The Pursuit of Justice

There’s a famous anecdote in Boston media circles about the late Boston Herald reporter Paul Corsetti, who in the early 1980s began investigating the actions of notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. One night, according to this story, Corsetti was at a bar and was approached by a mysterious gentleman. The mysterious gentleman, as it turned out, was Bulger himself–who attempted to intimidate Corsetti into abandoning the Bulger beat.

Donald Trump obviously hasn’t personally threatened journalists in bars, but he has made abundantly clear his loathing of the Fourth Estate. This man doesn’t want any entity to hold him accountable–which is why the press must be ever-vigilant in terms of subjecting Trump to scrutiny.

We at the Washington Monthly refused to be intimidated by Trump and his minions. We can only imagine what the Trumpsters would try to get away with were it not for media scrutiny. They fear independent media entities almost as much as they fear Robert Mueller–and while they can try to derail Mueller’s efforts, they can’t quell our desire for the truth.

However, holding Trump accountable cannot be done for free. The forces of fear are well-funded, and will be flush with even more cash in the wake of the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The dollars of wealthy wingnuts will indeed trickle down to the right-wing politicians and “think tanks” devoted to destroying all vestiges of progressive thought and policy in this country–and we need your help to fight back.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the Washington Monthly today. Through December 31, any donation we receive will be matched by Democracy Fund and by the Knight and MacArthur Foundations. Trump may not be Whitey Bulger, but he’s certainly taken out a contract on our democracy–and your help can prevent this country’s integrity from being whacked.

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D. R. Tucker is a Massachusetts-based journalist who has served as the weekend contributor for the Washington Monthly since May 2014. He has also written for the Huffington Post, the Washington Spectator, the Metrowest Daily News, investigative journalist Brad Friedman's Brad Blog and environmental journalist Peter Sinclair's Climate Crocks.